Back in the 80's, when I first saw a Chesini with internal cable routing, I dreamed about owning a Chesini just like this. I finally purchased one about two years ago. I was very stoked about it. It rode well and the workmanship was quite nice. What turned me off completely was how amateur the aspects of the frame that were not visible from outside were handled.

By this I mean that internal brake cable that does not have any internal cable guide. To install the brake cable you need to insert your finger into the top tube through the seat tube, then deftly direct the cable to the hole in the top tube. This is quite a let-down when you see how nicely other Italian manufacturers handled the same thing. But the brake cable routing is nothing when compared to the internal gear cable routing. You almost need an engineering degree to be able to install the cables. After all the hassle in dealing with the build, I never felt right about riding the bike. I had no where near the same problems building up my Rauler, Marastoni and Grandis bikes with similar internal cables, all of which were fitted with internal cable guides. Likewise, from an engineering point of view, I believe the Chesini design will lead to more water entering into the top tube and could lead to more oxidation.

As regards the aero Campagnolo brake levers in 1984, there were indeed no official Campagnolo sold ones available, but they were indeed around. I have a set of pantographed Record levers that have been modified for internal cables. You would need to drill the handlebars below teh brake lever clamp on the handlebars to fit them. They work, but not as well as teh Modolo Kronos ones. I have three bikes fitted with the Modolo Kronos levers, so I guess you can say that I like them

You know the more I look at your bike, the more I begin to forget the disappointment of my own Chesini. They are soooo beautiful!!! If only they had spent a bit more time in making them completely right... It is a bit like having a beautiful super car that has Vauxhall switchgear inside.

PS: I feel that as regards the internal cables, in some ways, the SL/SP tubing may actually be preferable to the SLX version, as the helical reinforcements made installation of the gear cables even more difficult.

Ha-ha, so you know the finger-fiddling cable hunt too? I learned early on to superglue a string to the old cable before I pulled it out of the frame. I then used the string to pull the new cable in.
But when I first built the bike up in 1984, before I had the string and superglue figured out, my finger got stuck in the seat tube. I had to sit still for almost a day with a bike stuck to my hand, waiting for the swelling to go down. My mates thought it was great fun. I did not. Nowadays I use a trick shown to me by one of the mechanics of the Swedish National Team. I use a super strong neodymium magnet that when dragged along the outside of the tube is able to pull the cable through the frame.

I'm still very much in love with my Chesini. It has been my one and only road bike for 26 years. It is a sweet ride and I still think one of the most good-looking bikes I have seen. I retired it only a few weeks ago, when I got myself a modern carbon wonderbike. I might take it out on the occasional sunny summer afternoon, but its main duty from now on will be Wall Art.

I too love the Modolo Kronos levers. I only have this one bike with them mounted, but I have two more NOS sets in the stash, just waiting for the right builds to come along...

Ha-ha, so you know the finger-fiddling cable hunt too? I learned early on to superglue a string to the old cable before I pulled it out of the frame. I then used the string to pull the new cable in.But when I first built the bike up in 1984, before I had the string and superglue figured out, my finger got stuck in the seat tube. I had to sit still for almost a day with a bike stuck to my hand, waiting for the swelling to go down. My mates thought it was great fun. I did not. Nowadays I use a trick shown to me by one of the mechanics of the Swedish National Team. I use a super strong neodymium magnet that when dragged along the outside of the tube is able to pull the cable through the frame.

I'm still very much in love with my Chesini. It has been my one and only road bike for 26 years. It is a sweet ride and I still think one of the most good-looking bikes I have seen. I retired it only a few weeks ago, when I got myself a modern carbon wonderbike. I might take it out on the occasional sunny summer afternoon, but its main duty from now on will be Wall Art.

I too love the Modolo Kronos levers. I only have this one bike with them mounted, but I have two more NOS sets in the stash, just waiting for the right builds to come along...

That is so funny about the stuck finger (in retrospect)! I don't think you found it funny at the time. The superglue trick doesn't work if you get the frame by itself with no cables fitted (likely due to the previous owner getting too frustrated and giving up on the build of the bike) On other bikes with internal cables, you can usually leave teflon cable housing liners in place and then insert the cable inside, but Chesini did things in such a way making this impossible. Likewise they made the special BB sleeve too large to fit the cables first, prior to installing the sleeve. The hardest cable to get through was the rear derailleur cable.

I think that we both agree that it is great wall art, and after hearing of your travails on the first install, I will stay away from another Chesini. There are simply too many other great riding bikes that don't have all the problems that I unfortunately now associate with the brand.

It looks like you ride about the same size bike as me, so if you make it over to Philadelphia in the US, let me know and I'll set you up on one of my bikes.

PS: it is good to see the wear on the sidewalls of the rims, it means you got quite a bit of use out of the bike over the years.

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